There’s more good press for sunflower oil in the May/June issue of consumer reports. What’s not mentioned is that high oleic sunflower oil, like we use, has the some of the lowest levels of omega 6 of any cooking fat. (Although this distinction is made moot by the fact that studies don’t support the concern)
On top of that sunflower oil does not contribute to deforestation or rely on animals, other than humans, for any part of the process. Thank the Sun!
Let’s talk seed oils. They are the dietary boogieman of the 2020s if you didn’t know. And if you didn’t that probably means you’re not on social media. I’ll cut to the chase for you. Most seed oils have a fat profile that contains high amounts of Omega 6 fatty acids, and the concern is that there may be a link between Omega 6 and ‘inflammation’ in the body. That’s it in a nutshell if you can pardon the pun. If you are here wondering what that means for BjornQorn, you can rest easy because we use high oleic (and expeller pressed) sunflower oil, which is extremely low in omega 6. It is a monounsaturated fat closer in profile to olive oil which is rich in omega 9 fatty acids.
| Oil | Omega-9 (Monounsaturated) levels | Omega-6 (linoleic) levels | Omega-3 (ALA, unstable) levels | Saturated Levels |
| BQ High Oleic Sunflower Oil | 83% | 4% | 0% | 10% |
| Olive oil | 73% | 11% | 1% | 14% |
| Avocado oil | 70% | 12% | 1% | 16% |
| Linoleic sunflower oil | 20% | 65% | 0% | 11% |
| Soybean oil | 23% | 51% | 7% | 16% |
| Corn oil | 28% | 54% | 1% | 13% |
| Source: USDA FoodData Central |
That might be enough for you to move on with your day and I’m sure you have a bunch of other things to do, but I will continue. The reason high oleic oil exists to begin with has nothing to do with inflammation, however. That decision was made long before this debate existed. It’s all about cooking stability at high heat. High oleic seed oils are extremely high quality, neutral flavor, and perfect for frying and popping popcorn. They resist rancidity and increase shelf life. But it is not processing that makes them high oleic, its the seed itself! So why would anyone use linoleic sunflower oil? Well, its cheaper. And on a large scale in a competitive marketplace that can make all the difference to the success of a food business. Plus if you’re just making a baked good and don’t need to reach 400 degrees a less stable oil will do the trick!
So why aren’t more companies highlighting the use of high oleic oils in the face of all this seed oil media frenzy? This may go back to some marketing advice I was told some years ago when I was starting BjornQorn, “Don’t attempt to educate your consumer.” Its not that the consumers are ignorant people, they are just not in the mood to be educated when their focus is on buying a snack. They know what they want and what they don’t want already – you’re job is to give or to not give. And so most companies just ignore the issue because ultimately most people aren’t thinking too hard in those moments. Some companies highlight something they think will land positively from different views points, like ‘made with avocado oil’! This doesn’t call out the seed oil debate but provides those ‘in the know’ what they want, and those less in the know just like avocadoes. Then there are those that attack it head on ‘NO SEED OILS’ or ‘SEED OIL FREE.’ Amazingly that’s a certification you can get. But explaining that everything is going to be ok because we actually use a specific kind of seed oil then renders your concerns moot is a bit hard to illustrate. Ultimately, its hard to argue for a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.
If you take a step back and look at the cohort of influencers fueling the seed oil debate in comparison with major medical journals and news organizations cutting them down, you’ll see a stark divide. Joe Rogan, RFK and all of TicTok, vs NY Times and the Mayo Clinic for example. Institutional skepticism is at the root of all this fear but it is concerning to me that people would run away from stable vetted institutions into the arms of used car dealers and other random unaccountable individuals. But that’s another story.
If you want to get the actual truth behind omegas and inflammation, there’s no better place to start than the Mayo clinic, and they have a great podcast that’s essential to clearing out all the noise. It’s a conversation between their instructor of nutrition, Tara Schmidt, M. Ed., RDN, and Dr. Jessie Burns who did her entire dissertation on the connection between fatty acids in seed oils and inflammation. It’s a great perspective because Dr. Burns was convinced she would see a correlation between omega 6s and inflammation because on paper it seemed like it should. But to her surprise the connection didn’t materialize. Interestingly, she goes on to tell us how we need to eat more fish or algae because omega 3s are what we really need. She spends very little time on high oleic oil because, like I said, it doesn’t solve a ‘dietary’ problem so why waste time on it? Once distilled to the basics, these debates end similarly. The oil you are using is fine, it’s what you are eating that matters.
Still, for what it’s worth, we’ve been using high oleic oil since day one, not because of any debate, but because it’s simply the best oil for popping BjornQorn.
Transcript here > https://mcpress.mayoclinic.org/nutrition-fitness/seed-oils-know-the-facts/
You may have heard the avocado oil bandwagon barreling through a bitstream near you. It is a very special oil in terms of properties. It has an insanely high smoke point, upwards of 520°F if its refined, and a neutral flavor as though its not even there. The problem is, it might not really be there…. duh duh duuuuhh
A UC Davis study in 2020 found that 82% of the avocado oil sold in the US was either rancid or adulterated1. A 2023 follow up study didn’t show much improvement.2 Sheesh! A few samples labeled as pure avocado oil contained nearly 100% soybean oil! Yuck, my least favorite oil, besides crude oil. And get this – the telltale sign of the adulteration was the presence of sunflower or safflower oil, which is exactly what its being marketed against!
Besides that depressing reality, lets talk about a worse one – avocado oil comes with a lot of environmental concerns. Right now you could forgive it for being a useful byproduct of another market demand – eating avocados the old fashioned way. I mean come on, every piece of toast is just asking for it! Still, the avocado industry has contributed to fifteen thousand acres of deforestation in Michoacán, Mexico PER YEAR over the last ten! Not to mention the cartel extortion and kidnapping that comes with that. Now imagine avocado oil supplanted sunflower oil in world demand. You would need something like 10X the world’s avocado supply, and you’d have to grow them just for the oil, it would no longer be a byproduct.
Sunflower oil, by contrast, has a transparent and traceable supply chain, is grown domestically with well-established standards and no history of widespread adulteration. It doesn’t carry the environmental baggage of avocado production – no deforestation, no cartel involvement. And high-oleic sunflower oil has a fatty acid profile similar to olive oil, undermining the core health claims against it.
Which on that note. SEED OILS! AHHHHGGDDDDGGDHHGG!! Stay tuned for my next post which will include nothing controversial to speak of.
BjornQorn got a little Christmas present this year. Our very own tractor!
Isn’t it pretty? Tractors can do a lot of things. They can scoop, dump, dig, bury, flatten, scrape, lift, lower, and all the while listening to the newest country chart toppers!
Now I’ve been around a lot of tractors in my day but my parents mostly had me stay on the ground. And even from that vantage point this one looks pretty small comparatively. It has 55-65 horse power though which apparently means that it would take roughly 70 horses to kick its ass. I’d run away from 1 horse so that sounds pretty good to me.
In reality, which is a place I don’t visit too often, this will mostly move snow around and fork pallets into trucks and serve as a way to get our various vehicles unstuck. It’s a problem solving machine and my father has proven that no task is too small for one. And he once said that you don’t have big problems just small tractors. That doesn’t make total sense though so I may have made that up.
A little further down the row we hope to get this thing planting some popcorn trials to help us find the next great kernel to turn into BjornQorn! Qheers!
It’s that time of the year folks. Time to scour every website you can think of for discount codes and pour the entire contents of your bank account onto the internet. BjornQorn.com is no exception to this phenomenon, but I’d also like to offer you an opportunity for some factory zen. Is it ok to call it Qorn Porn? Probably not. Regardless, maybe these little clips will calm your nerves and help you realize that you probably don’t need the pet hair version of that vacuum. It sucks either way. So do your thing! Oh and of course, save a little credit room for us with QORNFORTHEHOLIDAYS for 15% off for Black Friday and Small Business Saturday.
Here’s your first peek at our new popcorn factory inside a roller skating rink! I’m not an expert on what’s cool but I’m feeling pretty bullish about this one.
In the finished factory images, you will see 6 kettles at the far end. The sifter comes next followed by a bucket elevator, a surge bin, and automatic seasoner, another bucket elevator, a multi head weigher, and a vertical form fill and seal machine. It’s quite a path and journey for the popcorn, but it happens pretty quickly!
As for the construction photos, you can see that we built a block wall 2 feet high for protection against pallet jacks and forks, plus added hardening against rodents. In construction it is known as a ‘rat wall.’ No thanks! And we had to build walls inside the walls of the skate rink. You can also see the amazing top view of our scale.
It’s also worth noting that I finally have this blog in a situation other than shopify blog, which is a disappointing experience. This is now hosted with WordPress, so photos, videos, and posting will be much easier. Reach out if you have any questions! Thanks!
I’m aware its been far too long since my last post here. I will try to keep this more current. There is a lot of interesting stuff going on.
Last week we welcomed the arrival of our 2023 Hudson valley harvest. It was much bigger than expected. The Schoonmakers of Saunderskill Farms grew it on their land behind the firehouse in Accord, NY. It was fun to watch its progress all year long on my way to work. The Schoonmakers are a historic American farm, dating back 12 generations to the 1600s. I believe that makes them the 2nd longest continuously run family farm in America. So we are honored to be a part of that long history.
The crop covered 15 acres on a 30 acre plot along the Rondout river. It was continuously threatened by torrential rains from June through August. July alone saw over 15 inches of rain after 10 inches in June. August calmed down a bit but still saw 6 inches of rain.
By comparison, our land in Minnesota received 1.5 inches in June, 1 inch in July, and a whopping 3 inches in August. That’s just a little below average actually. Popcorn is pretty accommodating to a wide variety of outcomes. And it is much more mold resistant than field corn, which Dan Schoonmaker said was a problem for them this year. Corn, whether popcorn, field corn or sweet corn, adjusts how many cobs it produces, and also adjusts the size and fullness of each cob depending on how much moisture it receives, and critically, when it receives it.
In the end we probably got 60 bushels per acre, or about 3360 pounds per acre, totaling a little over 50,000 lbs. At the rate we are producing, that might only last us 20 weeks. Luckily we still have about 50,000 lbs laying in wait in Minnesota from our 2022 harvest. Field corn would have netted over 200 bushels per acre. That shows just how much more science and development has been allocated to maximizing the yield of conventional corn.
We can’t pop the new Hudson valley harvest just yet. It has to be dried down to popping conditions first. I’ll explain more about that later, but here’s to hoping for some warmer, drier weather soon.
A long time project of ours has been building the infrastructure to be able to receive bulk loads of popcorn from my family farm in Minnesota. This past week saw that project come to fruition.
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This is a rear dump tractor trailer that my father filled from our bin in Minnesota. It held in total 53,660 pound of popcorn, or 958 bushels. We dumped it into a 50 ft grain auger that lifted it up and poured into our new grain bin.
This bin can hold over 3 bulk loads, maxing out at 3000 bushels. It can dry a new crop down with forced air from below the false floor. Then we auger out of the bin into our new grain cleaning facility to prepare the popcorn for production. I’ll post more images of that full process soon once we get all the machines in place
June 2022
Look what we have here. Its the kernel of the month!
This bad boy just didn’t know what to do when its time came, so it did everything! An exotic flower, a bird of paradise.
Interesting title for a less so topic. Recycling.
Since starting a business that generates plastic waste I can’t help but feel a little cynical about my previous self’s rigid adherence to home recycling. To be clear i still make great efforts to recycle anything I can in my home – all cans and bottles, metal, paper, cardboard, #1 plastic, and even occasionally plastic film which a which I never fail to forget to bring to my local Lowes recycling bin – resulting in overflowing receptacles in my home and garage. I understand the nagging feeling you get when you see a bottle or can carelessly placed in your home trash bin by a guest or at work by a coworker. You don’t want to preach, but you do want to preach. Ultimately you just pit it out of the trash yourself and sort as needed and move on.
But lately I’ve been doing this less due to a change in perspective. By having a business that generates plastic waste, inside our own facilty and indirectly to every happy customer we make, my potential impact is so much greater by improving recycling methods inside our company that the decisions I face at home when I mull over how perfect I can be at the task. You think to yourself and explain to others, if everybody in the country picked one bottle out of the recycling that would be 400 million bottles recycled that wouldn’t have been otherwise. You can be the change!
We ask what we can do to help the environment, and the experts tell us all the things we can do. But its hard not to see this as merely a process of atonement rather than useful progress. The people asking these questions already recycle and are already concerned about the environment. There’s only so much we can squeeze out of this population. An analogy would be covid vaccinations. Giving the vaccinated more shots is helpful for them, but its not the progress we need as a world. We need people who aren’t doing it to do it. We need to change minds. This process is unfortunately long and slow.
The top down approach has much more immediate potential effect.
Being an vocal advocate is more useful than personal choices.
Governments are the ultimate tool
Plastic bag ban, climates accords etc
Mcdonalds recycled napkins